Cushioned handle



y 1957 v H. H. SCHOTT 2 7 CUSHIONED HANDLE Filed May 14. 1954 I 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. HOWARD H. S'CHOTT ATTORNEY CUSHIONED HANDLEHoward H. Schott, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to General Mills, Inc, acorporation of Delaware Application May 14, 1954, Serial No. 429,859

Claims. (Cl. 38-90) often relatively heavy and by their nature must beused so that the users hand receives jars or shocks in lifting ormanipulating the appliance and again in setting it down. An example ofsuch an operation is in the use of the fiatiron where the iron must becontinuously lifted and set down and pushed to and fro.

Since each force is accompanied by an equal and opposite force, it iscommon knowledge that the housewifes hand and arm are jarred when theiron is set down and also as the iron is pushed back and forth. Thestrain on the arm and hand is increased by the necessity of applying adownward pressure to the iron during ironing.

In order to reduced the resultant fatigue which accompanies long andtiresome periods of ironing, the present invention contemplatesproviding a cushioned appliance handle whereby part of the shock isabsorbed in the handle thereby reducing the shock transmitted to thehousewifes arm.

Accordingly an object of the present'invention is to providea cushionedhandle for an appliance which will enhance the functionality andappearance of the handle and will protect the operator from jars andshocks and will improve the general usefulness of the appliance.

A further object of the invention is to provide an appliance handle witha cushioned insert which is very simple in construction and isespecially simple to assemble to thereby reduce assembly time and unitcost.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an appliancehandle with a cushioned insert in which the insert protects and improvesthe operation of the control knob.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent in the followingspecification taken in connection with the appended drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an appliance handle show for purposes ofillustration as a handle attached to a flatiron and embodying thefeatures of the present invention;

Fig. 2' is a side elevational view of the appliance handle;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cushioned insert taken from the bottom ofthe insert;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the spring which gives resilience to theinsert; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the spring.

In the embodiment chosen to illustrate the features of the presentinvention a handle of the type which may be used on a flatiron isillustrated. This handle, as viewed in Fig. 2, rests on the upperrounded surface 10 of the iron and is suitably secured thereto withspacers 12 and 14 between the front and rear ends 24 and 26 of thehandle and the iron to reduce heat transmission from the iron to thehandle.

The handle itself has a central gripping portion 16 which has a roundedlower surface 18 comfortable to the hand and a similarly rounded uppersurface 20. This upper surface is continued in the center top of thehandle by a cushioned insert 22 which will be later described in detail.

The gripping portion 16 of the handle is supported oii the iron by aforward post 24 and a rear post 26, both of which may be integral withthe handle and which may have various design contours such asillustrated in the present drawings.

Mounted in the forward post 24 is a vertical control shaft 28 whichcarries at its top end a control knob 30. The knob and shaft arerotatable usually to operatecertain control devices in the appliance andin the present case may be used to control the temperature of the ironby adjusting the thermostat, usually found housed in the body of theiron. The knob 30 may be of any desired, shape and can carry ribs 32 onits outer peripheral surface to facilitate rotation when the user graspsthe control knob.

A recess 34 is present in the top surface of the body 16 of the handleand this recess extends longitudinally from the rear supporting post 26to the forward post as may be seen'in Fig. 3. a

Located in this recess is the cushioned insert 22 which has a roundedupper surface 36 which substantially conforms to the contour of theupper surface 20 of the body 16 of the handle to form a continuation ofthe handle gripping surface. The insert, although its surfacesubstantially conforms to the rest of the handle, does project slightlyabove the upper surface 20 of the handle to per? mit slight downwardtravel into the recess before its upper surface exactly conforms to thesurface of the handle, With this structure most of the pressure exertedbetween the users hand and the handle will be exerted on the cushionedinsert. The amount of projection of the insert above the handle at therear end 68 of the insert is slightly greater than at the front end,however, since the cushioned insert moves by pivoting about its frontend.

It is to be noted that the cushioned insert is resiliently mounted inthe recess of the handle so that pressure thereon can cause it todescend into the recess and thereby much of the shock between the handleand the hand of the user is absorbed by the cushioned insert.

To obtain the cushion effect for the insert to make it resilient, a leafspring 38 is located in the recess between the insert and the floor 40of the recess. The spring, as shown in its detailed views in Figs. 3, 5and 6, is in the shape of an inverted V with its tip 42 bearing against4 a smooth flattened area 44 on the under surface of the insert. Thelegs 46 and 48 of the spring rest on the floor 40 of the recess 34 withthe leg 48 being secured to the recess and the leg 46 being slideable onthe smooth floor of the recess to absorb the flexure of the spring. Topermit the leg 46 of the spring to readily slide, it is provided with arounded foot 50.

Projecting from the floor 40 of the recess is a protuberance 52 to whichthe other leg 48 of the spring is anchored. To secure the leg of thespring to the protuberance, a hole 54 is cut in the foot 56 of thespring with resilient fingers 58 and 60 at either side of the opening.These fingers are formed by cutting longitudinal slits 62 and 64 awayfrom the opening on each side of the open ing and parallel to thespring. 7

It will be seen from the above description of the construction and fromthe drawings that these resilient fingers 58 and 60 will wedge againstthe walls of the protuber- To hold the cushioned insert 22 in positionin its recess in the handle, it is pivotally attached to the handle atits forward end 66 and although it possesses free vertical motion at itsrear end 68, it is limited in its movement out of the recess.

The cushioned insert 22, Figs. 3 and 4, has a flange 67 extending aroundthe outer edge which guides the insert in its movements in the recess34. This flange also creates a concave under surface for the insertwhich helps keep the tip 42 of the leaf spring in place. Near theforward end of the insert a pair of forwardly extending fingers 69 and70 project downwardly from the flange to be inserted beneath anoverhanging lip 72 extending across the forward end of the recess. Thefingers 69 and 70 pivot in the pocket 74 formed beneath the lip 72 topermit the cushioned insert to pivot about that point.

To limit the pivotal movement of the rear end 68 of the insert, theflange has a rearwardly projecting edge 76 which limits the upwardmovement of the insert by engaging the upper edge of a cap 78 which issecured to the rear post 26 by a stud 30. This cap 73 contains anopening '82 to grant access to the electrical cord and is hollow forcontaining the electrical connections and leads which run down into thebody of the flatiron. The cap bears against a shoulder 84 on the post 26which is so positioned to give clearance to the rear face 86 of theinsert flange so that it can pivot freely about and will not bind at therear edge. The cap, however, holds the insert far enough forward so thatthe fingers 69 and 70 will remain in the pocket 74. In actual operationthe face 86 will slideably bear against the cap 76 so as to hold thepivotal fingers 69 and 70 in the pocket 74.

With the above structure the assembly of the iron is a simplifiedoperation requiring a very minimum of steps. With the handle in place onthe appliance the leaf spring 38 is placed in the recess by forcing thehole 54 over the protuberance. The spring will automatically lock itselfin place. The insert 22 is then dropped in the recess 34 and slidforwardly, the fingers 69 and 70 automatically being guided into thepocket 74. The rear end 68 of the insert is then pushed downwardlyagainst the action of the spring and the cap 78 positioned over the rearpost and secured in place by the stud 80. The assembly is thus completein a few simple steps which can be performed by even an inexperiencedassembler.

The forward end of the cushion insert has an overhanging extension 83which extends over the control knob 30 to hide and protect the top ofthe shaft 28. The forward edge of the extension is rounded and does nothide the edge of the knob which contains indicia 90 indicating the knobsetting, Fig. l.' The center of the knob has a depression 92 and intothis depression extends a projection 94 from the flange 67, theprojection being located beneath the overhanging extension 88 of theinsert.

At the top center of the extension 88 is a ridge 96 which acts as apointer or indicator with which the indicia of the control knob isaligned. Since the forward end of the cushioned insert is pivotallysecured, its vertical movement is relatively slight and its cooperativefunction with the control knob is not disturbed by its cushioned pivotalmovement.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an improved cushioned handleto be used on appliances such as flatirons which accomplishes theobjectives above set forth. The handle is simple in structure and iswell suited to be formed of plastic and as thus formed, and being ofrelatively few parts, is inexpensive.

The assembly of the parts can be accomplished with a minimum of motions,by simply inserting the spring, sliding the insert forward within therecess and placing the cap in position over the rear end of the insert.This reduction in assembly time also affects a considerable reduction inunit cost.

The completed cushion handle is attractive in appearance with theworking parts being concealed and the 4 insert conforming to the generalcontour and appearance oft'h'e over-all handle.

I have, in the drawings and specification, presented a detaileddisclosure of the preferred embodiment of my invention. It is to beunderstood that the invention is susceptible of modifications,structural changes and various applications of use within the spirit andscope of the invention and I do not intend to limit the invention to thespecific form disclosed but intend to cover all modifications, changesand alternative constructions and methods falling within the scope ofthe principles taught by my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cushioned appliance handle comprising in combination a handle witha recess in the upper surface, means to connect the handle to anappliance including a rear supporting post fixed to the handle, acushioned insert positioned in the recess having a vertical rear wallsubstantially longer than the thickness of the handle lying adjacentthereto, means at the front end of the recess for holding the insert inthe recess, a spring urging the insert outwardly of the recess, arearwardly extending flange at the rear end of the insert adjacent thelower end of said rear wall, a cap mounted on said post and overhangingthe flange to limit the upward movement of the insert so that it willconform with the contour of the handle, and stud means to securedetachably the cap to said post.

2. A cushioned appliance handle comprising in combination a handle witha recess in the upper surface, means to connect the handle to anappliance, a cushioned insert located in the recess and pivotal about alocus near one end, a spring positioned in the recess between the handleand the insert, said spring being spaced from said locus and urging theopposite end of said insert out of said recess, means located in thefloor of the recess and securing the spring within the recess, and meansto limit the movement of said opposite end of the insert out of saidrecess so that the surface will substantially conform to the contour ofthe handle.

3. A cushioned appliance handle comprising in combination a handle withan elongated recess in the upper surface, means to connect the handle toan appliance, a cushioned insert positioned in said recess, means tolimit the movement of the insert out of the recess and to lock theinsert therein, a leaf spring urging the insert upwardly, a protuberanceextending upwardly from the floor of the recess, an opening at one endof the spring with a finger adjacent the opening formed by cuts in thespring, said protuberance extending through the spring opening with thefinger bearing against the projection to lock the spring in position inthe recess.

4. A cushioned appliance handle comprising in combination a handle witha recess in the upper surface, means to connect the handle to anappliance, a control knob mounted on a control shaft at one end of thehandle, the knob having a depression in the center, a cushioned insertlocated at said recess and having an extension extending over the knobwith a projection on the lower surface of the extension projecting intothe depression in the knob, means to pivotally lock the forward end ofthe insert in the handle recess, a resilient spring urging the insertout of the recess and positioned between the handle and the insert, andmeans at the rear end of the insert attached to the handle and limitingthe pivotal movement of the handle outwardly of the recess.

5. A cushioned appliance handle comprising in combination a handle witha gripping surface and a recess in the top of the handle, means toconnect the handle to an appliance, an appliance control knob mounted atone end of the handle, a cushioned insert positioned in said handlerecess and having an index marker at one end located adjacent thecontrol knob, a spring located in said recess and bearing against theinsert urging it out of the recess, and means limiting the movement ofthe insert out of the recess so that its upper surface conforms to thecontour of the handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS421,277 Horton et a1. Feb. 11, 1890 6 Matveyefi July 3, 1934 Davis June4, 1940 Cochran July 8, 1952 Rickettson May 26, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTSGermany Aug. 1, 1933

